U-turn as Iran admits its military are among Syria 'pilgrim' hostages

"Retired" members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards and army are among 48 Iranians taken hostage in Syria by rebels, Tehran has admitted.

Free Syrian Army soldiers guard a group of Iranians abducted a day earlier and promising more attacks on Iranian targets in Damascus, SyriaPhoto: AP

9:56AM BST 08 Aug 2012

In an embarrassing u-turn for Iran, which has always insisted that the hostages are pilgrims, Ali Akbar Salehi, the Iranian Foreign Minister, was forced to admit that military personnel are among them.

"A number of the (hostages) are retired members of the Guards and the army. Some others were from other ministries," he said on Weds.

But Mr Salehi stressed that the former military personnel were exclusively on a religious pilgrimage to Damascus when they were seized on Saturday.

Iranian officials had previously claimed the 48 Iranians were only pilgrims travelling to a holy Muslim site in Damascus. This was the first time that Tehran has admitted that any of them had a connection to its military.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the trip was arranged by the Samen al-Aemmeh agency, which caters only for members and families of Revolutionary Guards or the Basij, the Iranian loyalist militia.

On Sunday, Syrian rebels posted a video of the hostages and claimed they were members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards on a "reconnaissance mission." Tehran denied the charge.

On its Facebook page, the rebel group on Monday said three of the Iranians had been killed in shelling by Syrian regime forces on their position.

It threatened to execute other hostages if the bombardment did not stop.

It was not possible to independently verify the deaths of the three Iranians. The fate of the other hostages was not known.

"Fortunately, in the video clip that was broadcast of these people, we see that these people are pilgrims and have no equipment other than clothes, personal items and identification cards," Mr Salehi said.

He said the 48 abducted were in one of three buses taking Iranians to the airport in Damascus on Saturday. "There were three buses, two of which reached the airport," he said.